Passive Effects
A list of miscellaneous passive effects granted by various means, often by equipping Accessories, or at times exclusive to enemies. Adrenaline When the unit's HP drops below 30%, physical damage is doubled. Gained by equipping a Steel Gorget. Many bosses have this ability innately. Using Scan on a unit with Adrenaline prints the line "(Physical) damage surges when near death". Can be countered by inflicting Disease as then the unit will always be at 100% HP. Ailment Defense The unit instantly dispels most incapacitating effects, such as stun, freeze, and immobilization. Used by the Dark Knight job class as well as most high level bosses in the game. Shadow gains this effect when equipped with the Memento Ring E (after completing the quest Lost Memories with the normal ending). Backstab Normal attacks by this unit deal increased damage when they strike an enemy's back. For this, it is required to be standing close to the enemy while facing in nearly the exact same direction. Backstabs are considered critical strikes dealing 10% additional damage for every point in Dagger proficiency. The Mina dagger's variant of this effect also makes Backstabs into Instant Death attacks if the enemy is neither resistant nor a boss. Gained by equipping an Assassin's Dagger or its cursed variant Mina. Combo Potential The unit's normal attacks have a 10% chance to trigger a Combo Hit. Only works on melee units. Samurai has this ability innately. Gained by equipping any Katana. Deathblow The unit deals more damage to enemies the lower their percentage HP. Enemies at full HP only take 50% damage, enemies at half HP take 100% damage, enemies at 10% HP take 140% damage. This effect is exclusively used by the enemy Tindalos. Demistrike All damage inflicted by this unit is increased by (target's current HP / 4). Used by Diablos and Lacerta. The Demi Sword used by Gilgamesh 2 gives a weakened version of this effect. Devaluing Attack When this unit attacks a randomly spawned creep, damage dealt is increased by the target unit's current HP directly, guaranteeing that the attack will be fatal. In addition, the target unit will not give any EXP or drop any items. This effect does not trigger on any bosses or specifically placed enemies. Used by most town guards. Dragon Eye This unit's normal attack damage is affected by its distance to the target, the farther the distance, the greater the damage. Regular damage is inflicted at 200 range, while only 75% damage is inflicted at 0 range, but conversely, 150% damage is inflicted at 600 range. 150% is the maximum modifier, even at greater distances (say if the unit teleports away while the projectile is in motion) damage does not increase any further. Techs and magic damage are not affected by Dragon Eye. Used by the Lancer job class as well as its Dragon Allies, as well as most Dragon type enemies in the game. Elemental Attack Amplification Physical damage of a particular element is increased by 50%. One version exists for all six primary elements, as well as one for Omni Attack Amplification. Gained by equipping an Elemental accessory of the respective element. The Geomancer job has Omni Attack Amplification innately. Several bosses have any of these abilities innately as well. Elemental Spell Amplification Magic damage of a particular element is increased by 50%. One version exists for all six primary elements, as well as one for Omni Spell Amplification. Gained by equipping an Elemental accessory of the respective element, or by equipping an elemental Wand. Omni Spell Amplification is gained only by equipping Force of Nature or Magus Rod A. Several bosses have any of these abilities innately as well. Elune's Grace The unit takes significantly less damage the closer it gets to death. Damage multiplier applied is ((Percentage HP * 0.9) + 10%). Naisha has this ability innately in both her quest and in the Battle Arena. Talon also has this ability innately. Focus When the unit's HP is at 100%, physical damage is increased by 50%. Gained by equipping Blazer Gloves. Some bosses have this ability innately. Note that a unit inflicted by Disease will always benefit from this effect, making it a good counter against bosses that use it. Frost Attack The unit's normal attacks inflict an icy slowing effect (same as the Wizard's ability Ice) for 5 seconds. Used by Talon, Echele in his final form as well as several icy enemies. Cannot be gained by players. Full Heat Maxes out the effect of Gathering Heat at +200% Fire damage regardless of percentage HP. McBurn has this ability in his final two encounters. Gathering Heat The unit's Fire-elemental and Omni-elemental damage increases the closer it gets to death. The increase in damage is (2 * missing percentage HP)%. For example, at 50% HP, Fire damage is increased by 100%, while at 20% HP, Fire damage is increased by 160%. A unit with Gathering Heat also becomes tinted increasingly deep red the closer it gets to death. Both physical and magic damage is affected, and the effect stacks with Fire Amplification. Gained by equipping Angbar. McBurn has this ability innately. See also the effect Full Heat. Ghoul Master When this unit is targeted by a normal attack, a Ghoul will spawn on the attacking unit's position. This ability is used up after 5 Ghoul spawns, only Darianius in his regular (non-Arena) iteration recharges his spawns at a rate of 1 every 5 seconds. Used by the boss Darianius, as well as random units during Kalm Sieges if Darianius hasn't been defeated yet. Growth Increases EXP gained from enemies by 50%. Gained either temporarily through a Growth Rune or by equipping a Growth Egg. Hardened Skin (Improved Hardened Skin) All physical damage on this unit is reduced by 10 points flat. This reduction is applied after armor reduction. Cannot reduce damage below 1. The Improved version of this ability reduces damage by 25 points instead. Golem has this ability innately and gains the Improved version at Level 5. Several enemies have this ability innately as well. Heroes can gain access to Improved Hardened Skin by equipping an Adamant Armor. Hardness (Physical/Magical) The unit reduces all physical/magical damage by 30%. Gained by enemies when entering Oversoul state. Physical Hardness is gained by equipping a Maximillian, Magical Hardness is gained by equipping a Helm of Divine Judgement. Some bosses may have either of these two effects innately. Penance has both of these effects only prior to his transformation. Immortal If the unit takes fatal damage, the damage is nulled and the unit's HP is set to 1 instead. Gained temporarily by using the ability Trance. Several quest-critical units have this ability innately. Interceptor Protection The unit has a 25% chance to block physical or magic damage. If this occurs, Interceptor will be summoned and run towards the attacker, attempting to strike it back. Interceptor's attack deals (blocked damage + Strength of blocking unit + Agility of blocking unit) in physical damage. Interceptor can move through terrain unimpeded, but if Interceptor does not reach the attacker in 3 seconds, he times out and the attack is cancelled. Interceptor does not appear if he is already on the map or if the attacking unit is dead or invulnerable. The blocking still occurs in this case, however. Like any other blocking ability, the Null Evasion effect nullifies Interceptor Protection. Shadow has this ability innately in all his forms, as does Relm when faced in the Battle Arena. Gained by equipping an Interceptor Guard. Last Stand When the unit's HP drops below 30%, physical and magic damage taken is halved. Gained by equipping an Armguard. Most bosses have this ability innately. Using Scan on a unit with Last Stand prints the line "Defense surges when near death". Can be countered by inflicting Disease as then the unit will always be at 100% HP. Null Evasion The unit's attacks and spells cannot be blocked or dodged, however, the unit itself also cannot block or dodge any attacks. Has no effect on guaranteed block or dodge as used by Penance or neutral Elementals or Chocobos. Gained by equipping a Cameo Belt. The unobtainable Omega Weapon also gives this effect. Some select enemies also have this effect innately. Pharmacology When the unit uses any typical potion, ether or nectar, or their Chemist's variant, the effect is doubled. This means they heal allies and damage undead for double their regular number, for instance a Mega Potion will heal 5000 instead of 2500 HP. Cooldown is unaffected. Here is a list of all affected consumable items: Potion, Hi-Potion, Mega Potion, X-Potion, Ether, Hi-Ether, Mega Ether, Turbo Ether, Nectar, Greater Nectar, Hero Drink, and the Chemist's variants of all these items. Notable exceptions that are NOT affected by Pharmacology are Spirit Potion, Blood Ether, Hidden Hero Medicine and miscellaneous consumables such as Elixir, Megalixir, Remedy, Dispel Tonic, Spirit of Lowtown, that all do not have a simple number to double. Used innately by the Chemist job class. There is no way for any other job to gain this effect. Plentiful The unit will always drop an item upon death. Gained by enemies when entering Oversoul status, in addition, some placed enemies have this ability innately such as the Bandit Lord guarding the cage carrying Mid in the quest Find Mid, or the Triton Nightcrawler in the pool of water separating the Barrens and the Farm. Recharge The unit will gain 100 MP when killing any enemy unit. Gained by equipping a Blue Amulet. Note that even the Necromancer can use this item without issue. Serenity When the unit's HP is at 100%, magic potency is increased by 50%. Gained by equipping Magic Gloves. Some bosses have this ability innately. Note that a unit inflicted by Disease will always benefit from this effect, making it a good counter against bosses that use it. Spellbreaker When the unit's HP drops below 30%, magic potency (damage and healing) is doubled. Gained by equipping a Leather Gorget. Many bosses have this ability innately. Using Scan on a unit with Spellbreaker prints the line "(Magic) damage surges when near death". Can be countered by inflicting Disease as then the unit will always be at 100% HP. Splash Attack The unit's normal attacks will deal additional damage to nearby enemies. The damage dealt is reduced by both the primary target's and the secondary target's armor stat, so attacking a target with low defense will yield the best results. Splash Attack has different targeting depending on if the wielding unit is melee or ranged. When used by a melee unit, secondary targets are affected if they stand behind the target, while while when used by a ranged unit, secondary targets simply need to be close to the primary target. Gained temporarily by using the ability Bladeblitz. Can also be gained by equipping Scattershot while having a Gun proficiency of 1 or higher. Cyclops, Bahamut, Dragon Allies and many enemies and bosses have this ability innately. Tech Finisher Changes the EXP multiplier of Tech Finishes from x1.2 to x2.0. Gained by equipping a Celcetan Banner. Truecast Magic damage inflicted by this unit cannot be blocked or dodged. Gained by equipping a Soul of Thamasa. Ultima Blade The unit's inflicted physical damage scales with their percentage HP. At 100% HP, 150% damage is inflicted, at 66% HP, 100% damage is inflicted, at 33% HP, 50% damage is inflicted. Gained by equipping either Ultimate Weapon or its cursed variant Caladbolg. Unblockable (Physical/Magical) Physical/Magic damage inflicted by this unit cannot be blocked. It can still be dodged. Both variants are gained by equipping the Strange Vision. Several enemies have either of these two effects innately. Vampiric Power Drains 50% of all inflicted damage in HP. Used exclusively by Diablos. The Sanguine Sword used by Gilgamesh 2 as well as the Vampiric Aura bestowed by Darianius to nearby melee units both provide the same effect, but only to physical damage.